Make-Ahead Migas Breakfast Casserole

Now that Ethan is in high school the bus picks him up before the sun. In the interest of smoother running mornings I've been trying to utilize a lot of breakfast casseroles that can be baked Sunday night & re-heated throughout the week.

I wanted to come up with a casserole take on our favorite variety of migas inspired scrambled eggs. I knew I would need to solve the dry eggs issue in a casserole that was intended to be reheated in the microwave each morning. I remembered that my Aunt Virginia (a caterer) once told me the key to keeping eggs from drying out on a buffet was cream cheese. I've now made this casserole twice & it seems to be the current favorite.

Please be advised if you use a lower fat milk you may have issues with the casserole getting watery on you. The half & half is there in order to create an emulsion. For an explanation of why achieving emulsion is important in egg dishes please see Perfect Scrambled Eggs Made Easy.

For serving I cut a square, re-heat it in the microwave, then top it with taco sauce & sour cream.

Make Ahead Migas Breakfast Casserole

Chunky Filling Items
10 corn tortillas cut into pieces & fried
Ham I like to use a lot
1 onion, chopped fine
1 green bell pepper, chopped fine
1 can ortega chilis
2 cups of shredded cheese, I like cheddar, jack or a combination of the two

Egg Mixture
1 8 oz package cream cheese softened
8 eggs added 1 at a time
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups half & half or whipping cream
2 green onions (optional)
a handful of fresh cilantro (optional)

Remove cream cheese from refrigerator so that it can begin to soften.

Cut 10 corn tortillas into strips. Fry the strips in batches, in oil for about 2 minutes flipping them over half way through (they'll fry best if you wait to fry until your oil is between 350 and 375 degrees fahrenheit.) Drain fried tortilla strips on paper towels. To skip this step you could substitute tortilla chips but they will be much saltier, and I suspect greasier and containing more preservatives. Or you could use un-fried tortillas, but they will soften & disintegrate in the casserole giving a very different texture.

For breakfast ham I have used several different types depending on what was available at my market at the time. Sometimes I can find small sliced boneless hams that have been shrink wrapped, these are very easy to work with. Last night I had a ready-to-eat picnic ham, it was difficult to work with because of the fat cap & trimming around the bone. I wouldn't go that route again. Sometimes ham steaks are available in my meat department they are also quite easy to work with. Failing the above I get ham from the service deli. I have them slice it on the thickest setting & I get 2-3 slices depending on the size of the ham. The ham from the deli is the easiest option, but depending on the season other hams may be a better price. 

Place ham slices in a large skillet and heat them up, allowing them to brown a little bit on each side. Browning the ham seems to activate the flavors of the ham. Try an experiment & eat a piece of ham before browning, then eat a piece that has been browned. HUGE flavor difference! 
Remove the ham to a cutting board, stack & cut into bite-size pieces.


Add a bit of olive oil or butter to the skillet you used for the ham & saute the onion & bell pepper until soft. I like to use a bamboo paddle or wooden spoon and scrape up the brown left in the bottom of the pan from the ham. Ham flavored veggies is a good thing. When the veggies are soft, mix in 1 small can of mild Ortega chiles. I didn't add chiles to my 1st casserole & I felt it really needed this specific flavor.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray. You can mix all the chunky filling ingredients with the cheese in a bowl & dump into the casserole dish. Or save yourself the washing of a bowl & add each ingredient to the casserole dish as you prep them, then take a pair of tongs & mix them right in the casserole dish.

Now for the egg mixture. You need to incorporate the cream cheese throughout the eggs, you want to form an emulsion, mix them evenly, not chunks or bits. There are 2 ways to accomplish this.
1) Cream the cheese in a mixer & when it is soft add the eggs 1 at a time mixing until creamed into the cheese (1st photo is after all eggs are added), then add salt, and slowly pour in the half & half or cream while the mixer is running.
OR

2) If you have a really good blender like a Blendtec or a Vitamix, you can mix up everything in your blender.
I have made this casserole both ways & both work.
Because I DO have a blendtec blender and I know it will blend evenly I also add 2 green onions cut in half to the blender jar. They gave great flavor. Last night I used the creaming mixture method but I wanted to incorporate some leftover cilantro I had in the fridge so I blended my half & half with the cilantro before adding it to the egg mixture. The cilantro was very subtle but if you have some handy, go ahead & add it.

Pour the egg mixture over the chunky filling ingredients in the casserole dish. I take a pair of tongs & lift up bits of the filling from the bottom in order to allow the egg mixture to flow in and around the ingredients so that I don't end up with chunky stuff on the bottom & eggs on the top.

You could top the casserole with additional 1/2 cup of cheese if desired I don't find it necessary.

Cover with foil Bake in a preheated 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 1hour 10 min. Remove foil & continue baking for 10 more minutes.

If serving hot allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting & serving. Or allow to cool, cover with foil & store in the refrigerator for future use.

Chicken Stew With White Wine: Master Recipe Becomes - Chicken & Dumplings, Chicken Noodle Soup or Chicken Pie

Updated Feb 18, 2013

 This recipe comes out of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (Amazon Affiliate Link at bottom of post) It's his Basic Stew recipe the Chicken and White Wine variation. Jamie's base recipe calls for a can of tomatoes, I leave those out, my idea of Chicken comfort food doesn't include tomatoes. My family loves this recipe I have now made it as Chicken & Dumplings & Chicken Noodle Soup. It would also make a wonderful chicken pot pie. I used to make it with boneless chicken breasts, but after using boneless thighs, I will never go back. The thigh meat requires some trimming away of fat, but the results are worth it. The thigh meat remains tender & juicy, by comparison chicken breasts seem a little tough & dry, particularly in leftovers the next Day. As for the wine, I have used Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Vermouth & Sherry all are fine, it seems that just about anything that's light in color will do. This recipe can be made on the stovetop or in the oven. I prefer the oven as it produces a gentler, all over heat & I don't have to adjust the temperature as I would on the stovetop. Be sure that the pot you use is oven safe, you don't want to melt your handles.


Basic Stew Recipe Chicken With White Wine

2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled & sliced (I sometimes use 3 or 4 it adds more color)
2 celery stalks (use up to 4, celery adds a lot of flavor)
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 chicken bouillon cube (I use Knorr – this item is my addition)
1 Tablespoon of flour (see the variation you are making for possible alteration)
1 – 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed & cut into pieces
2 cups of white wine
2 cups of chicken broth or stock (this makes up for the liquid in the can of tomatoes I omit)
1 teaspoon of salt
pepper to taste

If using your oven move position a rack in the center of the oven & preheat to 350 F.

Add the olive oil to a large dutch oven or stock pot & heat over medium heat. When the oil is hot add the veggies to the pan and cook until softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally as needed (I like to use a bamboo paddle for this purpose) When the veggies are nearly ready add the thyme, bouillon cube and flour and stir frequently to cook off the raw taste of the flour.

Add the chicken pieces to the pan & stir. Add the white wine, chicken broth, salt & pepper, stir and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan, they add flavor. Increase the heat if needed and bring to a bubble. Place the lid on the pot & either place in the oven, or reduce the heat to barely a simmer. Cook for 1 and ½ hours more (see notes for the variation you are making.)
Serves 4, generously



Chicken & Dumplings
If you want a thicker stew you can add an extra 2 teaspoons of flour at the stage where you added the flour (for a total of 1 Tbs + 2 teaspoons)
30 minutes before the stew is due to be removed from the oven remove the lid & check on it. Add more liquid if desired. It's now time to mix up your dumpling batter. I use Bisquick Baking mix & follow the directions on the box which calls for 2 cups of baking mix to be mixed with ¾ cup of milk (I use lactose free milk since I have some dairy issues.) Mix it up in a bowl with a fork. Pull the pot out of the oven & add dumpling batter to the top of the stew liquid – a large ice cream dipper works wonderful for this purpose & produces uniformly sized dumplings. Cook on the stovetop (or return to the oven) uncovered for 10 minutes. Then replace the lid and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Ladle into large soup bowls and enjoy!

You may have misgivings about using Bisquick but that's how my Aunt Virginia always makes them, and she was a caterer. If it was good enough for her, it's good enough for me – and it produces wonderful fluffy dumplings.



Chicken Noodle Soup
For Chicken Noodle Soup check on the pot 30 minutes before it will be ready (after 1 hour of simmer time) Depending on how much broth is in the pot you may wish to add more chicken broth at this point. The soup will thicken a little bit after you add the noodles as they will add starch to the water.
I find that 3 oz of dried fettuccine noodles broken into 4 pieces produce the amount and size of noodles that I like. Add them to the pot at the 1 hour and 10 minutes point & return to oven with the lid on (or continue to cook on the stove-top, covered) until the noodles are soft, then serve. I found my noodles were ready after 20 minutes of cooking in the oven.


Chicken Pot Pie
Add 1 Tablespoon of flour at the point where you added the flour (2 Tablespoons total). When the stew is ready remove thyme stems, add 1 cup of cream & 1 cup of frozen peas. Remove from heat and allow to cool (hot stew will make the pie crust melt and fall into the broth, then it will not get crisp.)
Roll out pie dough to the size of dish you are using for your pie (be it one large pie – or two individual pies) I find that rolling together 2 rounds of Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough produces a thicker crust that is hearty & pleasing for chicken pie. Place dough on top of dish & crimp, then cut 4 or more slits in the dough to allow the steam to vent away brush with milk. Bake until browned and done, consult your pie dough recipe for an idea of how long and what temperature to bake.

A short cut to Chicken Pot Pie is to cut shapes or rounds out of the pie crust, brush with milk & bake on a baking sheet. Serve the stew in large bowls & float the pie crust shapes on the top. This is a great way to prevent having soggy pie crust if you're serving again as leftovers.
(photo coming soon Chicken in White Wine with Cream & Pie Crust Crackers.)

Chuck Roast Barbecue

This recipe is from the cookbook Southern Living Our Best Easy Weeknight Favorites - this is an old favorite I'm reviving. It's made in the crock-pot so a perfect recipe for dinner on a busy Fall night.
This make tasty sandwiches, but it's also wonderful served over baked potatoes with sour cream.

Chuck Roast Barbecue

1 (2 1/2 pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed of fat
2 medium onions, chopped
1 (12 oz)can cola flavored drink (1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons beef bouillon (I use one Knorr beef bouillon cube)
¾ teaspoon dry mustard
¾ teaspoon chili powder
¼ to ½ teaspoon ground red pepper (I'm a spice wimp, I use none)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 CUP ketchup
1 tablespoon butter
6 hamburger buns
dill pickle slices (optional)

Place roast in a 3 ½ or 4 quart electric slow cooker; add onion. Combine cola and next 7 ingredients. Remove 1 cup of the sauce, cover & chill the reserved cup for later. Pour remaining sauce over roast. Cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours or on LOW 9 hours or until roast is very tender. Remove roast with chopped onion from cooker, using a slotted spoon, and shred meat with two forks. (reserve remaining meat juices to spoon over mashed potatoes or toast, if desired.) I throw out the onions, they add flavor to the roast but don't have much flavor in them by the end.

Combine reserved sauce, ketchup, and butter in a saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thoroughly heated. Pour sauce over shredded meat, stirring gently. Spoon meat mixture onto buns.
Yield 6 servings.

Mexican Pulled Pork

Thank you very much to Ali Bee's Bake Shop for posting this recipe. We love it! This is the easy version I have featured another, fussier pulled pork recipe in the past.

1 pork loin roast
1 bottle of Goya Mojo Criollo (see photo)
1 bottle of mexican beer
water
taco fixings of your choice.

Start with a boneless pork loin roast. NOT a tenderloin, that's an expensive cut of meat, you just want it to say loin, forget the tender the cooking method will take care of that. Place said roast, fat side up, into an oven safe Dutch Oven with a tight fitting lid. I have a Le Cereucet Dutch oven, my family calls it the magic pot. I got it for my 15th anniversary. It IS magical. I switched out the plastic knob that comes with it, I bought the oven safe one, you can find them at Sur La Table or Williams Sonoma.

Dump in 1 bottle of Mexican beer & 1 bottle of Goya Mojo Criollo, you can find it with the Latin foods, it smells amazing as soon as you open it! I got it at Kroger, but now I buy it at HEB, their price is better. Add water to the pot, enough to cover the top of the roast.

Place the lid on and Roast in an oven preheated to 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours.

Remove from the oven, if you did it right the sides of the pot will be black, that is where it pays to have a pot that cleans up like magic. Remove the roast to a large cutting board and shred it with 2 forks.

I like to skim off the fat and reserve some of the juices, but I no longer store the meat in the juices as pictured.
You can serve these as tacos, but my favorite way is to serve the meat & juices over cilantro rice & hit it with a squeeze of lime. Delicioso!

People have mentioned crockpots, so I tried cooking it one time at a lower temp of 350 degrees. It didn't get tender, the meat dried out & the sauce didn't reduce, so I can't vouch for what would happen in a crockpot.
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Quick Stovetop Jambalaya

I've been eating Jambalaya since before I moved to the gulf, I used to make one baked in stoneware in the oven when I lived in California. I love the stuff.

This is not an authentic Jambalaya - I just made it up to please myself. Last week I sampled some tasty sausage at the market. I bought some then had to figure out what to do with it while at the market. I decided to do a kind-of Jambalaya on the fly. I've made it twice now. My family loves it. It comes together easy. Just 30 minutes on the stove.

Meat: Sausage, ham, boneless chicken, or a combination cut into pieces (if using raw shrimp or cooked chicken hold until the end)
1 onion
3 celery stalks (optional)
1 green bell pepper
tomato cut up or diced (optional) or a small can of diced tomatoes (reserve liquid)
1/2 teaspoon of oregano (optional)
3 or 4 Garlic cloves, minced, chopped or pressed
rice (1 1/4 cup - see note)
1 small can of tomato sauce (not spaghetti sauce) - or you can use reserved liquid if you used canned diced tomatoes above.
water (2 1/2 cups - see note)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
frozen green peas (optional)

If you are using sausage, ham, or any other meat that will render, add it to the bottom of the saucepan (or deep wide skillet for which you have a lid) and brown it to deepen the flavors and render the fat. Depending on how much fat is left you may not need to add olive oil to the pan in the next step.  You can remove the meat from the pan for the next step or leave it in depending on the amount of surface area in your pan so that you can cook the veggies.

Drizzle olive oil into the bottom of a large saucepan or pot & heat over medium. Finely chop the onion, celery, and bell pepper or process in a food processor.

Add the vegetables & oregano to the pot and saute until soft. This is a great way to get a lot of veggies into kids without them realizing what you are up to!

Add the fresh tomatoes to the pot I used grape tomatoes & cut them in half. It was what I had on hand. Add the garlic to the pan & cook until fragrant, 30 seconds or so.

Add the rice and meat to the pot (if using raw chicken it should be cut into small pieces) and mix all together. Put some tomato sauce (or reserved liquid from diced tomatoes) into your liquid measuring cup, I use about 1/2 a cup. Fill the cup up the rest of the way with water in total you will add 2 1/2 cups of liquid (this includes the tomato sauce & the water.) Add salt.

Bring the pot up to a boil, put the lid on the pot, turn the heat down to low & cook for 20 minutes. When 20 minutes have expired turn off the heat in the pan but do not remove the lid. Set your timer for an additional 5 minutes. When the timer goes off. If you are using raw shrimp &/or frozen peas add them now & replace the lid for an additional 5 minutes. If using cooked chicken pieces, warm them in the microwave & add now. Fluff the rice & serve.

Rice & Liquid Note: You can use any amount of rice in order to make as much of the dish as you want, just make sure your pot is big enough. However much rice you use, you will need to use double that amount of total liquid (water & tomato juice/sauce).
For Example- 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of liquid. 1 1/3 cups of rice 2 2/3 cups of liquid. 2 cups of rice, 4 cups of liquid.

Tomato Note: You can use any kind of tomatoes you have on hand. I have made the recipe with both tomato sauce & tomato puree & I liked the flavor better with the sauce. You could also use cut up diced tomatoes but don't measure the pieces of tomato with the liquid, only the juice. You can put more or less tomato in depending on how tomato-y you want it to taste.
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Ortega Chicken Casserole

Ethan often asks me, "When are you going to make casserole, again?" He loves them. He doesn't generally specify which casserole, just that it's time for me to make one, again. This casserole is another that I got from my Mother, it's full of canned soup & chicken, but I still crave it. I had a bit of a panic yesterday when I went into my recipe box and this card had been lost. Luckily I had made a recipe box full of recipes for my friend, Heather, some 11 years ago and found an old computer file.
Note: this is a retro recipe, very mild, good for littles who won't eat anything spicy, it is a lot of soup! In the future I think I will try updating it by using less soup and mixing it with red or green enchilada sauce. I do like the corn tortilla mixed into the casserole & the crispness of the tortillas on top, although they would dish up better if cut into squares.


Ortega Chicken Casserole

2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup, condensed
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup, condensed
1 can Ortega chilies, cut up (I use mild)
4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed, or shredded (be sure to use the full 4 breasts of chicken or it will be too saucy)
1 medium onion, chopped
10 corn tortillas, cut into strips, or squares
1 cup cheddar or jack cheese, grated

In a large bowl mix soups, chilies, chicken and onion. Pour one layer of mixture into bottom of a casserole dish.  Top with a layer of tortillas and repeat, sprinkle top layer of tortillas with cheese.

Casserole can be frozen at this point if desired.

Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Shrimp Fettuccine with Pancetta & Green Peas

I made this for dinner, tonight. I just made it up as I went. It was so good I have to share the recipe! If you don't have any, just skip the grapeseed oil & scampi blend, just use olive oil or butter.


10 oz dried fettuccine (I used fettuccine Florentine some of the noodles are green, it's pretty)
3 Tbs Garlic Grapeseed Oil (I used Wildtree)
optional 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Scampi Blend (from Wildtree)
1 pound of shrimp, cleaned & peeled
3 oz of pancetta (or bacon), cut into small pieces
3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1/2 cup of white wine
approximately 2 cups of heavy cream
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
2 teaspoons Sun-Dried tomato paste or Sun-dried Tomatoes(I used the teaspoons out of my silverware drawer, not measuring spoons)
1 cup of frozen peas (measure them out before you begin & let them sit out while you cook)
5 oz shredded Parmesan Cheese

In a cold skillet combine oil & scampi blend. Add the shrimp to the pan and toss in the oil mixture. Heat the pan to medium low and cook the shrimp. When the shrimp are cooked through remove to a warmed bowl & cover with foil.

While you make the sauce, cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water for use with any leftovers.

Add pancetta to the pan and cook, when the pancetta is cooked add 3 cloves of pressed garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then add the white wine & heat through. Add the cream to the pan, add 2 MORE pressed garlic cloves to the pan, stir around & bring up to a simmer for a few minutes. Reduce heat and add sun-dried tomatoes and shrimp to the pan. Mix in Parmesan cheese & peas. Mix in the fettuccine noodles.

Serve with garlic bread and green salad.

If you have any leftovers, place in a large container and add the reserved pasta water, cover & refrigerate. The pasta will drink in liquid and you won't have any sauce, adding the pasta water before storing will help with this.